Peace Offering
by littleredkoalabear
Summary: Boredom is a terrible thing for a child to suffer through, especially the Doctor's daughter.


A PEACE OFFERING

It had started off as a good day.

After a few lectures and one long guilt trip from Jackie, Rose agreed that her mother was well overdue for a day out with her granddaughter. The Doctor even enthusiastically agreed to come along. He had become more accommodating to Jackie's wishes since Sarah had been born, but five years into parenthood still left Rose pleasantly surprised by him some days.

So they had made their way across London, enjoying a brunch of chips that led to feeding pigeons, that then led to Sarah chasing the pigeons with manic glee and high pitched giggling. Rose was comforted knowing that her young daughter could still find such joy in a simple day on Earth when she was used to having all of time and the expanse of the universe - and more accurately, her father - wrapped around her finger.

That comforting feeling didn't last through their trip to the museum.

Rose had thought her last surprise of the day would be that it had been Jackie's idea to go to the museum. What she hadn't anticipated was Sarah's change in mood after spending just short of ten minutes among the exhibits.

To say she was bored was an understatement. It was more along the lines of vocally unimpressed.

"That's not what Cleopatra looks like. She hates that dress," she had been sure to tell one of the volunteers. At first the staff had been entertained by their new tiny expert but they were quickly becoming irritated.

"I don't know what's gotten into her," Rose said to the Doctor as she eavesdropped on Sarah's detailed description of the proper attire for an Egyptian queen of the time.

"I know what you mean. She didn't even like Cleo."

Rose had been about to retort that her daughter had only been displaying her supreme sense of character when she heard her name being called from across the exhibit.

"Mummy! Mummy! Look, it's you!" Sarah yelled, jumping up in down in front of the roman statue that was indeed, a perfect replica of Rose.

"I thought they would have rotated it out by now," Jackie said, but without much more than casual interest. Rose, on the other hand, dragged Sarah away from the statue before she could draw more attention to it.

"Did you see it mummy? Was that really you?" she practically squealed with delight.

"It is pretty good, isn't it?" the Doctor asked, and Rose could have smacked him for his smug smile.

Sarah squirmed away a few displays later, the statue forgotten as boredom set back in.

"I think this might be a bit too dull for her," Rose whispered to the Doctor when she was sure Jackie was out of earshot. "She's being a bit . . . showy."

"Nah, she's just keeping score."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"She's testing what she's learned. It gives her a sense of accomplishment," he answered, watching his daughter's antics with obvious pride.

Rose felt ashamed at being so embarrassed by Sarah's behavior. "Well, when you put it that way-"

"Little girl, you can't climb on that!"

Rose turned around to see a security guard shouting up at her five year old that had managed to climb up onto the back of a triceratops replica. She jumped off immediately at the older man's scolding but then she proudly smiled up at him. "My daddy took me to see them once but they weren't green then."

Rose ran across the exhibit room with the Doctor and Jackie not far behind.

"Sarah, what were you thinking?!" she shouted as she took hold of Sarah's arm and pulled her away from the guard.

"Ma'am, is this your daughter?"

"Yes, sir, I'm very sorry," Rose said to the guard before rounding on Sarah once more, "What did I say about touching things? That was very, very bad Sarah! You could have damaged something and god forbid if you had gotten yourself hurt!"

Sarah's wide eyes began to fill with tears and her tiny chin quivered. "I'm sorry."

"Come on now, I think you're being too harsh. She's just a kid," the Doctor said to Rose, "Remember all of the stupid things we used to do when we were her age?" He made a point of giving the guard a charming smile as he said the last part, but he received nothing but a glare from him and Rose in return.

"Sir, I don't know what kind of childhood antics you've been passing onto your daughter, but I'm going to need you to remove yourself and your family from the museum immediately."

"Daddy I'm sorry!" Sarah wailed and threw herself around the Doctor's legs.

Jackie stormed around the Doctor and stood herself up to her full height in front of the guard. "You should be ashamed of yourself, yelling at a little girl like that!"

"It's alright Jackie, time we were off anyway," the Doctor said, pulling Sarah up and into his arms. She clung to him in return, burying her face in his neck on their way to the exit.

As they walked, Rose was working herself up into a fury, preparing for the talking-to she was sure to give her husband and child when they got back to the estate. But then she noticed the Doctor had stopped a few paces behind her and Jackie. Sarah had whispered something in his ear and he nodded in response, pivoted around, and began marching back towards the security guard.

"What are you doing?" Rose hissed at him as she jogged to catch up.

"Just finishing our business here," he answered calmly without making eye contact.

Rose sighed, figuring there was nothing she could do, and watched as the Doctor approached the guard with Sarah in tow.

"So sorry to bother you again, but my daughter has something she feels she needs to say to you."

The guard raised his eyebrows, clearly unimpressed. "Yes?"

"I'm sorry if I hurt your dinosaur," Sarah said with a sniffle. Then, turning around, she peaked at Rose and Jackie before whispering - loudly - to the guard. "And I'm sorry my granmum yelled at you." From her place behind them, Jackie rolled her eyes. "Daddy says I still need to go home, but if I give you a jelly baby, will you promise not to be mad anymore?" she asked, handing him a green gummy.

At the guard's hesitant look, the Doctor spoke up. "Honestly, she won't sleep a wink tonight if you don't take it," he said, practically pleading.

The older man sighed and took the candy from Sarah. "Just promise that she won't touch any more of the displays?"

"Yes sir!" Sarah answered with an enthusiastic salute as the Doctor carried her off once again.

Rose couldn't help but smile at the exchange. Knowing that the game of good cop, bad cop had already been lost, she let her anger slip away.

Sarah, however, must not have noticed her mother's uplifted mood because on their way out, Rose heard her ask the Doctor, "Do you think I should give mummy a jelly baby, too?"


End file.
